Flat tire and still made it to a meeting

I excitedly got ready this morning for my first client meeting in five months. I even wore my pumps, blow dried my hair, and had two cups of sugary and milky tea before I left. I took so much time to prepare that I didn't have time to give the baby a bath. Haresh gave her a 'Wipes Bath.' And off we went!

We were making excellent time until we reached Congo Town and our car got a flat tire! Yikes. I telephoned the client to tell them that we could be 10-15 minutes late. Thankfully, he was in a good mood and was glad I notified him I might be late. 

Meanwhile, our driver had a spare tire but not the tools - he kept saying 'they must have fallen off while he was driving.' So, Haresh went off to borrow a jack and the other thing (what's it called?). He found a taxi which was being stopped by an elderly policeman but it took him forever to convince him to lend us his tools. He kept saying, 'It is good to help another human being in need.' The elderly policeman also strolled over and encouraged the other fellow to lend us his tools. 

Thankfully, my baby slept throughout the little episode (and all during my meeting). 

In no time the tire was replaced and we were off! And guess what, we made it in time - 5 minutes early, in fact. 

Patience, our admin officer with an added role of baby sitter, looked after the baby while we were in the meeting, actually. Thank God, since it was quite an intense meeting. 

I'm so glad to be back in the swing of things - drinking truck loads of tea, holding staff meetings every 5 minutes,  yelling 'what do you mean you don't know," popping blood vessels because agreed procedures and rules are not being followed any more, fine combing and nit picking everything, demanding reports and updates, updating my company blog every day, setting weekly targets and rushing off to meetings. 

Liberia is not an easy place to live and work. Even after 10 years, it has not got that much easier. In fact, every time I am back from somewhere else, I almost have to talk myself in to it again:

1. "Normal is subjective and relative. Liberia is just as normal as any other country."
2. "Poor basic infrastructure is a norm for most of the world's population therefore, stop complaining. You are still better off than most."
3. "Liberia has some of the sweetest pineapple in the world."
4. "You are having a unique life time experience: you get to be part of a society that is slowly coming back from almost 2 decades of conflict and total breakdown." 
5. "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere."
6. "At least people are friendly here."
7. "You don't have to wash your own plates or clothes. You can hire someone to do it for you."
8. "You own and run your own business. You get to interact with an impressive international clientele. You have set yourself an amazing challenge and you will make it." 
9. "You have the most beautiful office in Monrovia."
10. " You have a small but hardworking and loyal team of Liberians working for you."
11. "You have a great husband and business partner by your side."

And, indeed thanks to the fact that I have my own business and office, I can bring my baby to work every day and enjoy being boss as well as a mother. And, I have so many people to help me for which I am grateful. 

And, here's a few photos of us posing at the office at the end of the day.